Cross Country

From the 1960s to the early 1990s nationwide fame came almost completely from the superb cross country teams produced by the legendary Mike Rowbottom. Rowbottom was Head of RE and Head of House at Skinners’ and his retirement showed that a teacher can be irreplaceable.

In recent years, Skinners’ has still had superb individual distance runners such as James Puxty (English Schools 3000m Senior Boys’ champion in 2017) and Matthew Taylor (South of England U17 XC Champion 2020) but is currently focusing its efforts on increasing participation among the younger students, in order to produce a competitive Senior Team by 2025.

The 2020s have seen increased participation and success, with both the Junior and Intermediate boys’ teams qualifying for the regional round of the English Schools Cross Country Cup. Thirteen Skinners’ boys represented Tunbridge Wells District in this year’s Kent Schools’ Cross Country Championships and six boys gained selection for Kent in 2023/4. The number of races that Skinners’ participates in has significantly increased, and red vests are now prominent in events across the South East of England.

Skinners’ has hosted cross country races for Tunbridge Wells primary schools at Southfields and also hosts its own races for secondary school pupils. In addition, the Inter House Cross Country is now an established part of Skinners’ sporting life.

Training at Southfields:

Junior Running Club (Y7 & Y8) - currently after school on Thursdays

Intermediate Running Club (Y9-11) - currently after school on Fridays

Dr Richard Newbold

Richard.Newbold@skinners-school.org.uk